Lagging no more
I think my head is finally back in the right time zone. At least, I have been sleeping through the night as much as I ever do.
It's wierd- it's almost as though I never left for vacation. A month away and very little has changed, almost exactly the same faces (not always the case in a place with as much turnover as here). I think I timed it just right accidentally betwween rotations to have largely the same people here when I got back.
The one thing that changed is the huge amount of stress I dropped at home. I don't have anything spectacular to report about my leave, just that it was very good, very relaxing, and much needed. I caught up with a lot of friends and my immediate family, which was important, and even met a few cool people.
Now I'm back, and good to go through the current end of contract (July). I'm not so sure about another year after this, it might be possible, but I won't know until May or June, perhaps even later, if the company will even maintain the contract, much less whether I will be offered another year and if I will accept it. I'm not too worried that I won't be offered employment if it is given, but nothing is certain in this world, and even less in this portion of it.
My head is not entirely wrapped around another year in this place. The main difficulty I have with it is the feeling that a lot of things are passing me by in the "real world" while I am in a hamster wheel here. "Groundhog Day" has nothing on being stationed in Iraq.
Although I did miss this place, in an odd and somewhat twisted fashion. You get really attached to people you bond with in a place and circumstances like this. Having about as many people happy to see me come back here as there were back home is gratifying. The first couple days back home were odd, being out of the troutine I had followed for months. then the last couple days had me antsy just to get the travel over with an dbe back at work. Not like I wanted to come back earlier, but knowing I had to, I just wanted to take the plunge and get it over with, all at the sdame time regretting having to leave at all, especially with the sweet last little bit of time I had to spend with people. A very conflicting experience.
It's wierd- it's almost as though I never left for vacation. A month away and very little has changed, almost exactly the same faces (not always the case in a place with as much turnover as here). I think I timed it just right accidentally betwween rotations to have largely the same people here when I got back.
The one thing that changed is the huge amount of stress I dropped at home. I don't have anything spectacular to report about my leave, just that it was very good, very relaxing, and much needed. I caught up with a lot of friends and my immediate family, which was important, and even met a few cool people.
Now I'm back, and good to go through the current end of contract (July). I'm not so sure about another year after this, it might be possible, but I won't know until May or June, perhaps even later, if the company will even maintain the contract, much less whether I will be offered another year and if I will accept it. I'm not too worried that I won't be offered employment if it is given, but nothing is certain in this world, and even less in this portion of it.
My head is not entirely wrapped around another year in this place. The main difficulty I have with it is the feeling that a lot of things are passing me by in the "real world" while I am in a hamster wheel here. "Groundhog Day" has nothing on being stationed in Iraq.
Although I did miss this place, in an odd and somewhat twisted fashion. You get really attached to people you bond with in a place and circumstances like this. Having about as many people happy to see me come back here as there were back home is gratifying. The first couple days back home were odd, being out of the troutine I had followed for months. then the last couple days had me antsy just to get the travel over with an dbe back at work. Not like I wanted to come back earlier, but knowing I had to, I just wanted to take the plunge and get it over with, all at the sdame time regretting having to leave at all, especially with the sweet last little bit of time I had to spend with people. A very conflicting experience.
posted by Larry at
1/31/2008 07:03:00 AM
1 Comments:
We had the same experience when we would come home from cruise (our affectionate term for our 6-7 month deployments on the aircraft carrier). After spending that much time in very close proximity with our squadron mates one would think we would land our jets and get away from each other. But the first thing we did was have a Welcome Hoome dinner and couldn't wait to get back with the same people we couldn't wait to get away from after being with them for so long. I think there was a bond based on the shared experiences for so long and in such a confined space that made us feel almost happier and more comfortable to be with our squadron mates than our families.
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